Historically, most WWE entrance themes have been created by Jim Johnston since the 1980s,[6] while in recent times, themes have been written or performed by John Alicastro and Mike Lauri,[7] known collectively as CFO$.[8]

The format of the wrestling albums changed in 1996, as the focus went from the wrestlers themselves singing to a compilation of various wrestlers' entrance themes.[9]WWF Full Metal was the first album released with the new focus, and included the Monday Night Raw theme "Thorn in Your Eye" by Slam Jam, a supergroup composed of members of metal bands Anthrax, Savatage, Pro-Pain, and Overkill.[9] In October, the album reached No. 184 on the Billboard 200 and by 2002, had sold 173,000 copies.[9] This new format proved to be a success. The follow-up album, WWE The Music, Vol. 2, which was released two years later, spent sixteen weeks on the chart and sold over 480,000 copies.[9]

WWE The Music, Vol. 3 and WWE The Music, Vol. 4, released in December 1998 and October 1999 respectively, each sold over a million copies.[9] In particular, Vol. 3 reached No. 10 on the Billboard 200, spent thirty weeks on the chart, and sold over 1.21 million copies.[9] The album reached position No. 4 in its début week, stayed on the charts for twenty weeks, and sold over 1.13 million copies.[9]

In May 2001, WWE signed their first act, the heavy metal band Neurotica,[15] and released their third album in June 2002,[16] the only non-wrestling related album released on the label so far, before they disbanded.

In 2007, WWE released WWE The Music, Vol. 7, the company's first digital-only album, on iTunes,[27] and starting in 2012, WWE began making old albums available through online stores, starting with the first five "Volume" albums released from 1995 to 2001.[28]

On 20 April 2013, the entrance theme of wrestler Fandango reached No. 44 in the UK Singles Chart,[29] after briefly being close to the Top 10 in the mid-week charts.[30] Following the NXT Arrival show on 27 February 2014, WWE released singles of eight NXT wrestlers created by CFO$,[31] and it was followed in May by the music video and single of Tyler Breeze.[32]

On November 30, 2017 it was reported that Jim Johnston's contract with the WWE had expired and that the company had released him after more than thirty-two years of employment.[33][34]

Composer James D. Papa filed a lawsuit against the WWE Music Group, Michael Hayes, and Jim Johnston in July 2012 over the use of the music from World Championship Wrestling, citing redirected royalty payments to several wrestling related songs he either wrote or co-wrote by securing the rights to music unlawfully. Along with the defendants of the case were long with VE Newco LLC, the parent company of Vivendi Entertainment (distribution of WWE DVD and Blu-rays), Yukes (WWE video games), and Take-Two Interactive (who owns the WWE video game license after THQ filed for bankruptcy in January 2013) were added in September 2013.[35]

The case was then settled in court on May 5, 2014 before the March 23, 2015 trial date. However, WWE has again denied any wrongdoing and claimed that since Papa "consented to use" of his music in WCW and World Class Championship Wrestling broadcasts, and subsequently, WWE would have the rights to his material since they acquired the copyrights lawfully. WWE also said that the music in the World Class documentary would be "fair use" and that Papa did not have any copyright for the "clone song" that Johnston created, so any claim against that song should be thrown out.[36]